Japanese Americans- A Powerful Potential

Yesterday at the Asian American church we attend in the afternoon I again glimpsed at the potential. The person came up to me and asked about our recent trip to Japan. He expressed his interest in going to Japan again with his young family.

I asked him about his Japanese roots and he said that his father's side connects with Kumamoto and his mother's with Niigata. His interest in going to Japan stems from his Christian faith and Japanese heritage, but didn't seem to connect with at interest in either Kumamoto or Niigata.

So I started my usual sermon, challenging him to 1) become familiar with his family roots; 2) pray for the towns where his parents came from; and 3) try to visit those areas in his trip to Japan.

Sadly, many Japanese Americans have even less interest in their roots than my friend has. But what a potential! There are over 1,200,000 Japanese Americans. That means there are at least 1,200 Christians among this group, probably two or three times more than that. Just think what a powerful force it would be if Japanese Christian Americans would 1) become familiar with their family roots; 2) pray for the towns, and churches in that area, from which their ancestors came; and 3) try to visit those areas to express Christian interest.

Here is the challenge. Whenever you meet a Japanese American Christian, use my three point sermon to turn their eyes and hearts back home.

Don